Zelda

Thanks for the advice, i'm stunned he's been doing this for so long and sorry, I would have added this to the business section had I known. His email persona is super friendly, it is amazing how he can sleep at night, targeting small mom & pop candle companies is pretty low.

Hi all! I just wanted to share that I've received the second scam email trying to get a refund for a candle and wanted to share this in case it happens to any of you. The first email I received was a year ago from someone saying my candle glass broke and what can I do about it? I spoke with this person going back and forth it turns out they couldn't show a picture of the damage and the person they say purchased the candle didn't exist (we had records of every sale and no wholesale clients at the time) I received another email yesterday from someone who said they received a candle as a gift and it left major soot on their ceiling causing damage and what can I do? I test extensively to avoid soot so I was panicked until I realized this email pretty much matched the old email about the broken candle jar. After going back and forth, again, a photo could not be sent due to the fact that "his girlfriend threw out the candle in disgust". I asked for a name of the person who gifted the candle and it was the same name as was used a year ago, Carol Smith, someone we've never sold a candle to! I just wanted to make everyone aware of this shady email and make sure to get photos as proof before offering any sort of refund. These people are convincing, I am pretty good at spotting a scam and it took a while to figure it out.

No cinnamon in the Glazed Doughnut!

Regarding the fuel smell, all of your scents have citrus in them, after close to 2 years I still haven't been able to get citrus scents to not smell like fuel when burning. I use IGI wax and never have a problem otherwise.

I use 4627 and tested many wicks. Every time i tested an eco wick it turned the meltpool a ugly brown color, it only happened with eco wicks so i stopped using them.

Hi, this is interesting because I also use 4627 wax without color and a few months ago started getting large wetspots. I have been using this wax for close to a year now and never had them before. I heat the jars and wash the glasses, and never chaged pouring temps. I've been very baffled. I do notice that some oils are worse then others but i've never seen such horrible wetspots! Would love to figure out a solution, usually the wetspot ends up right around the design on the front of our jar!:undecided

Thank you very much for the great advice! I'm going to check out both your recommendations now!

Hi All! I had an insurance question. My husband and I are both artists and have a business together for the past 8 years which is a corporation. After a year (or more) of massive testing, we finally launched our candle line. I did purchase additional insurance from Brower, which just ran out. Before i renew it, i was wondering if anyone knew if being a corporation would mean we have insurance already, i do know that a corporation does offer some protection against lawsuits, i'm just not sure if it's enough? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I'm clueless with all things like this, i just hate to pay for something i already have. (and no, my accountant didn't seem to know the answer???) Many thanks!

Hello and welcome! I've been told beeswax candles do not work in glass jars, either they eventually break the jar due to the large wick needed or they crack on the tops of the candles due to the properties of the wax being so hard. Since beeswax varies, it can burn very differently batch to batch. Are you adding any oils? I played around with beeswax but never felt comfortable with selling it in jars for these reasons.

Many thanks for your help, after a sleepness night last night with visions of retesting nine scents and trying to work it out all day my husband was the hero in finding out my tare button was broken! (I'm really embarrased i didn't catch this earlier!) i'm just glad i don't have to do all the retesting! Which i would have done because the direct heater is heaven on earth, i highly recommend one!

Hi All! I haven't been on the board much, I've been testing alot and finally happy with how my candles burn and smell after about a year and 1/2! Just when I was getting comfortable...along comes a problem I and hope someone knows what happened? I've always used a presto and then recently invested in a direct heater (been saving for 6 months for it). In the past I weighed my 4627 comfort blend wax while it was solid, then melted in the presto then poured. I've always gotten 10 candles plus a dixi cup extra from 4 pounds of wax. Today I tried the direct heater for the first time and it was kind of wacky! With one scent combo I had two full dixi cups extra instead of one. Then even more baffling with one of my scent/wax combo's I only got 9 candles from 4 pounds of wax instead of the 10, which has never happened. I thought I had made a mistake so I started again (and made sure my scale was correct by weighing everything with another scale, too) and again I only got 9 instead of 10 candles! Did I scorch the wax or burn it somehow making it denser? Does this mean my candles will now burn differently and I need to retest? So confused and stressed out!!:confused:

I've made candles using c3 and 4627 and with both waxes the melt pool turned an icky shade of brown only when using eco wicks, which i believe has to do with how hot they burn. However it's interesting to note that no other wicks have ever done this and i've tried them all! I did have a wax turn an icy blue green after burning but that was from the oil itself, not the wicks.

I also tested a sample i received from Rustic Essentials, it has a moderate cold throw and a nonexsistent hot throw and i use 4627 paraffin

Regarding preheating jars, I want to add that the times i've skipped preheating my jars with paraffin wax they had alot of wetspots but when i preheat them i don't get any, and i haven't seen them show up later unless i light them, then i'll get one or two. This goes for the soy wax i've used as well. I do live in a drafty house which may make a difference. I wish it didn't because preheating jars is an extra step i could do without!

The first wax I started with was CB Advanced and I got HUGE wetspots. Preheating my jars helped somewhat but i then switched to c3 and the wetspots decreased by about 50%, then changed to comfort wax 4627 and haven't seen one since. I'm convinced it's because the nature of CB Advanced is to pull away from the jar. I really hated them, too, they were just so massive, sometimes it looked like the candle would pull right out of the container!

It's very difficult to pick 3, 1. Sweetcakes 2. Peaks 3. Rustic Essentials Then a bunch of others...!

What i find really makes a difference when chosing a wick is how much fragrance oil you're using and if it's a heavier oil. I use 4627 wax and if i have too much fo it will make the largest wick drown out or not behave properly. I'm learning this lesson the hard way!

Hi Cynthia, Some wick testing results with my jar (2.75" diameter x 4" tall) and mainly 4627 paraffin with a little c3 soy & 8% fo. I have 3 candles burning, all from the same pour, one wicked with a htp 93 and the others with an htp 83 & cd 10. Both the htp have a very weak flame, actually look like they could fizzle out and the cd-10 is nicely burning, with a much wider mp. When I referenced my notes going back, I noticed that the cds have burned hotter then the htp's and I'm hoping it may be the push I need to get over these sluggish wicks that I have been dealing with. My only worry is that further on down the wick may be too hot but we'll see. If the cd's don't work, onward to LX's (although they seem to have amazingly huge mushrooms when I've tested them).

Yes, what wick did you come up with because I think I tried them all!? I find it's alot harder to achieve a fmp if I use vanilla, chocolate or other "heavy" oils and the fruitier/lighter ones seem to burn quicker (= easier to wick!) I also add c3 to my paraffin, I was hoping it helped with wicking...

Thanks so much, Horsescents! You don't know how much it means to my sanity to read your comments! I'm finally getting the results i've been wanting in a candle and the only thing holding me back is wicking! I now feel like i may finally be on the right path. Cynthia3030, best of luck and looking forward to hearing your results.

I am also using 4627 in 2.75" diameter jars, (changed from 3" tumblers because it was impossible to wick with just one!) and you said using htp 83" wicks worked for you, but what i'm finding is the jars get REALLY hot toward the bottom, but I'm scared with the smaller wick size I won't achieve a full melt pool, ever. My jars are 4" tall (the Libbey Crisa tumblers) so toward the bottom they are bound to get hot, but I think they were too hot. I also was getting some soot and alot of flickering flames towards the bottom, too. Now I'm testing the 73 & 62 htps and off the bat I say say the 62s are not going to make it. My worry is the 83's get too hot and the 73's will not ever get a full melt pool! I really don't want to test a new line of wicks, especially since htp's are the recommended wick for this wax (and I like them!) Last night my first burn with the 73 left about a 1/4" inch all around, I know a hang-up is ok on the first and second burns, (maybe even third?) I ask, is this normal? Is my wax "the bad batch?" I've had some of the weirdest results with wick testing with 83's burning hotter then 93's, etc... my 73 last night had a wider melt pool then the 83??? Thanks all!

I noticed they were one of the few suppliers that carried champagne fo so i tried them out, great oil, did kind of take a long time to get shipped but i am on the east coast, though...

Thanks for all the help, I sure do appreciate it. I was thinking I would have no idea how I would have made it through (still trying to make it through, actually) this often crazy process of testing candles without the help and abundance of info on this board!

Thanks for your answer, that's what I thought but wanted to make sure. The funny thing is my testers say they could care less about the wax, all they care about is the scent! That was the same with me before I started making candles, now every little detail is obsessed about! Welcome to the world of making candles!

Hi All, I'm kind of stumped and would love some help with correct terminology. I'm using a wax blend , the majority being 4627 with some c3 which i find makes it a tad easier to wick. Wondering what i tell people and eventually put on my labels. i've seen alot of "natural wax" does that pertain to paraffin, too? Or is it safest to say parasoy? Food grade paraffin with a touch of soy? I'm assuming 4627 is food grade. Almost every candle on Candle Delirium says "soy blend". What are the percentages to be able to say that because alot of them are mainly paraffin. I just want to be sure that i'm not misleading. But for some reason, parasoy doesn't sound as nice as natural waxes... Thanks!